Connecticut environmental filmmaker turning camera to people

Filmmaker turns camera around in new documentary

Published 6:45 pm, Sunday, February 7, 2016

After years of documenting some of the most exciting and visually stunning landscapes and creatures of New England, filmmaker and documentarian Scott Tucker has turned the camera around.

“To take the camera and turn it on myself has been a little scary,” Tucker, 52, said. “I’m now looking at the audience as a species.”

Tucker has previously filmed blue sharks off the coast of Montauk without being inside a cage for protection, but he finds this next challenge a bit more intimidating.

“Some would say that’s crazy,” Tucker said with a smile. “But, to get compelling video that’s what you do.”

Moving away from the depths of the ocean to the depths of the human mind, “Expedition New England,” a public-access documentary series about area wildlife, has morphed into “Expedition Earth.”

Tucker’s latest documentary is called “Anthropology of Sport” and takes an in-depth look at the human obsession with games, what Tucker said are simply artificial constructs. He explores the human obsession with sports and how rules and realities change based on whether you’re on a basketball court or a golf course.

“We’re running the show on this planet, or at least we think we are, and most of what we’re engaged in is an artificial construct,” he said.

Photo: (Anna Bisaro - New Haven Register)

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Local filmmaker, Scott Tucker, and his son, Race, explore next ideas for the documentary series Expedition Earth.

Local filmmaker, Scott Tucker, and his son, Race, explore next ideas for the documentary series Expedition Earth.

Photo: (Anna Bisaro - New Haven Register)

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Scott Tucker of Madison talks about the equipment he uses to film underwater for documentaries for the film series Expedition Earth.

Scott Tucker of Madison talks about the equipment he uses to film underwater for documentaries for the film series Expedition Earth.

Photo: (Anna Bisaro - New Haven Register)

Connecticut environmental filmmaker turning camera to people

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The latest documentary, which aired last month, is Tucker’s 111th film.

A trained photographer, Tucker said using his skills to capture light and create still images easily translated into his film making. While he is now experimenting with smaller and smaller cameras and recording equipment, his editing software on his laptop has remained the same for the last 12 years. All videos are backed up in three different locations, just in case, he said.

While Tucker has filmed in places such as the Galapagos Islands and is contemplating a trip to the Africa to film gorillas and active volcanoes, he is equally as fascinated by the animals, plants, and landscapes of his own backyard, and he can thank his daughter, Daphne, 15, and son, Race, 9, for that.

“She brought me back out into the woods,” Tucker said of his daughter’s birth in 2000. “For that I can never repay.”

“My Galapagos Islands are right here,” he added.

A lot of Tucker’s inspiration comes from conversations with Race, as his unending curiosity about the world fuels new ideas for documentaries. New projects to come will be documentaries looking at how to find dinosaur bones and the atomic structure of humans.

A few years ago, Tucker’s documentary business became a registered nonprofit organization and Tucker was able to get grants and donations to help fund his projects. As time goes on, however, he may go back to self-funding, he said.

Expedition New England, now Expedition Earth, documentaries have aired on public access stations all over the country, but are most popular in New England, Tucker said. The 30-minute films take about one or two months to produce in his home office in Madison with the help of his wife, Ava, once he’s really fixated on the idea, and that’s just for editing, he explained.

The filming for these projects is happening all the time, he said, as he will often stop on the side of the road to capture an image, or take out his camera and film the backyard if the lighting looks right.

And the popularity has not dropped off since the airing of Episode 111, “Anthropology of Sport.” Tucker’s documentaries are usually aired on more than 50 stations nationwide and is ranked seventh in the nation for the most downloaded show of PegMedia, the media transfer site Tucker uses to share his work.

“So many people loved the show the way it was,” Tucker said. “Now the mission is to talk about the brain.”

Expedition New England, now Expedition Earth is aired on these Connecticut stations: